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| Mississippi Kite |
We were recently in Abilene, Texas for a family wedding so of course we decided to squeeze in some birdwatching during our visit. We flew into San Antonio and spent a few days in the "Hill Country" before heading deep into the heart of Texas for the remainder of the trip.
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| Curve-billed Thrasher |
Texas is fantastic for birds, but trying to locate them in the heat of July when breeding activity is largely finished is not particularly easy. Spring would have been a more advantageous season, but unfortunately the engaged couple did not consider our birdwatching preferences when they selected their wedding date. The nerve!
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| Scissor-tailed Flycatcher |
The two most sought-after species in the Hill Country region are Golden-cheeked Warbler and Black-capped Vireo. We were successful in finding the vireo, but could not locate the warbler despite a fairly intensive effort.
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| Golden-fronted Woodpecker |
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| Ladder-backed Woodpecker |
Texas has a great variety of birds, but we would have had to visit the Rio Grande Valley, coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico, the Piney Woods region and several key locations in West Texas in addition to the Hill Country to fully appreciate the richness of bird species represented within the state. The large geographical area of Texas makes a visit to all of these areas impractical in a single short visit.
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| Mexican Ground Squirrel |
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| Black-tailed Jackrabbit |
In addition to birds, Texas is an interesting destination for viewing reptiles and mammals. One highlight of the trip was the opportunity to witness approximately 10 million Mexican Free-tailed Bats as they emerged from their maternity colony at dusk.
Texas is also well-known for its impressive variety of flying insects, particularly butterflies and dragonflies.
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| Halloween Pennant |
Below is a complete list of birds recorded during our trip:
- Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
- Northern Bobwhite
- Least Grebe
- Pied-billed Grebe
- Neotropic Cormorant
- Anhinga
- American White Pelican
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Egret
- Snowy Egret
- Little Blue Heron
- Tricolored Heron
- Cattle Egret
- Green Heron
- Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
- White-faced Ibis
- Black Vulture
- Turkey Vulture
- Mississippi Kite
- Harris's Hawk
- Red-shouldered Hawk
- Swainson's Hawk
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Black-necked Stilt
- Killdeer
- Least Sandpiper
- Spotted Sandpiper
- Lesser Yellowlegs
- Rock Pigeon
- Eurasian Collared-Dove
- Inca Dove
- Common Ground-Dove
- White-winged Dove
- Mourning Dove
- Groove-billed Ani
- Yellow-billed Cuckoo
- Common Nighthawk
- Chimney Swift
- Black-chinned Hummingbird
- Belted Kingfisher
- Golden-fronted Woodpecker
- Ladder-backed Woodpecker
- Crested Caracara
- Peregrine Falcon
- Acadian Flycatcher
- Eastern Phoebe
- Ash-throated Flycatcher
- Couch's Kingbird
- Western Kingbird
- Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
- Loggerhead Shrike
- Black-capped Vireo
- White-eyed Vireo
- Hutton's Vireo
- Red-eyed Vireo
- Blue Jay
- Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay
- Common Raven
- Purple Martin
- Barn Swallow
- Cliff Swallow
- Cave Swallow
- Carolina Chickadee
- Black-crested Titmouse
- Verdin
- Canyon Wren
- Carolina Wren
- Bewick's Wren
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
- Eastern Bluebird
- American Robin
- Curve-billed Thrasher
- Long-billed Thrasher
- Northern Mockingbird
- European Starling
- Louisiana Waterthrush
- Black-and-white Warbler
- Yellow-throated Warbler
- Olive Sparrow
- Chipping Sparrow
- Lark Sparrow
- Canyon Towhee
- Rufous-crowned Sparrow
- Summer Tanager
- Northern Cardinal
- Pyrrhuloxia
- Blue Grosbeak
- Indigo Bunting
- Painted Bunting
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Yellow-headed Blackbird
- Common Grackle
- Great-tailed Grackle
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- Scott's Oriole
- House Finch
- Lesser Goldfinch
- House Sparrow
